Tabs for tableware and method of making and using thereof

ABSTRACT

A disposable plate having a base portion with a perimeter and a tab extending from the perimeter. The plate is configured to nest with a second disposable plate having a second tab and the second disposable plate is underneath the disposable plate. The tab is configured to be staggered from the second tab such that a user grabbing the tab does not grab the second tab.

BACKGROUND

Tableware has been used since the ancient times. As time has passed, plates and other elements known in modern times as tableware have evolved from being made of wood and metal to clay or glass and more recently to plastic and paper. For convenience and for larger gatherings, disposable tableware is sometimes used. Oftentimes, when disposable tableware is used, a person often inadvertently grabs more than one cup or plate because they typically stick together because there is not a lot of space between the plates to keep storage space to a minimum. When taking a spoon, fork or knife, it is inevitable that each user will at least touch more than the one that they are about to take.

SUMMARY

One aspect of the present invention includes a disposable plate having a base portion with a perimeter and a tab extending from the perimeter. The plate is configured to nest with a second disposable plate having a second tab and the second disposable plate is underneath the disposable plate. The tab is configured to be staggered from the second tab such that a user grabbing the tab does not grab the second tab.

Another aspect of the present invention includes a disposable piece of tableware having a base, a perimeter, and a tab extending from the perimeter. The disposable piece of tableware is configured to nest with a second disposable piece of tableware having a second tab, the second disposable piece of tableware is adjacent the disposable piece of tableware. The tab of the disposable piece of tableware is configured to be staggered from the second tab such that a user grabbing the tab does not grab the second tab.

These and other aspects, objects, and features of the present invention will be understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art upon studying the following specification, claims, and appended drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an embodiment of a plate of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is another top plan view of an embodiment of a plate of the disclosure.

FIG. 3A is a top plan view of another embodiment of a plate of the disclosure.

FIG. 3B is a top plan view of another embodiment of a plate of the disclosure.

FIG. 3C is a top plan view of another embodiment of a plate of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a side cross section of a stack of plates of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5A is a close-up view of a side cross section of a stack of plates of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5B is a close-up view of a side cross section of a stack of plates of another embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It is to be understood that the present disclosure and the claimed invention may assume various alternative orientations, except where expressly specified to the contrary. It is also to be understood that the specific devices and processes illustrated in the attached drawings, and described in the following specification are simply exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts defined in the appended claims. Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics relating to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting, unless the claims expressly state the dimensions or other physical characteristics.

It will be understood by one having ordinary skill in the art that construction of the described invention and other components is not limited to any specific material. Other exemplary embodiments of the invention disclosed herein may be formed from a wide variety of materials, unless described otherwise herein.

It is important to note that when discussing the layout, the construction and arrangement of the elements of the present disclosure as shown in the exemplary embodiments, those discussions are illustrative only. Although only a few embodiments of the present innovations have been described in detail in this disclosure, those skilled in the art who review this disclosure will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible (e.g., variations in sizes, dimensions, structures, shapes and proportions of the various elements, values of parameters, mounting arrangements, use of materials, colors, orientations, etc.) without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the subject matter recited. For example, elements shown as integrally formed may be constructed of multiple parts or elements shown as multiple parts may be integrally formed, the operation of the interfaces may be reversed or otherwise varied, the length or width of the structures and/or members or connector or other elements of the system may be varied, the nature or number of adjustment positions provided between the elements may be varied. It should be noted that the elements and/or assemblies of the system may be constructed from any of a wide variety of materials that provide sufficient strength or durability, in any of a wide variety of colors, textures, and combinations. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure. Other substitutions, modifications, changes, and omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions, and arrangement of the desired and other exemplary embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure.

It will be understood that any described processes or steps within described processes may be combined with other disclosed processes or steps and such processes and methods would be within the scope of the present disclosure and claimed invention(s). The exemplary structures and processes disclosed herein are for illustrative purposes and are not to be construed as limiting.

It is also to be understood that variations and modifications can be made on the aforementioned structures and methods without departing from the concepts of the present invention, and further it is to be understood that such concepts are intended to be covered by the appended claims unless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise.

When disposable plates are manufactured, they are typically very thin sheets of plastic or paper combinations stamped into their plate-like configuration. Many times, the plates are placed into a package and stacked one on top of another. The plates may be circle-shaped, oval, square, or any other shape. Because of the uniform thickness, perimeter, and design of the plates, the edges of individual plates 10 may be difficult to grasp by a user, because the edges or perimeter 20 are nested so close together there is very little edge area to grasp.

As shown in FIG. 1, in an embodiment, a plate 10 is shown having a base portion 22, a decorative edge design 24, and a perimeter 20. A tab 30 is added to the plate 10 extending from the perimeter 20. The tab 30 is shown extending from the perimeter in a generally radial direction and having a generally rectangular shape. It should be known by one of ordinary skill in the art that the shape could be triangular, circular, semi-circular, or any other shape that allows a user to grasp the tab of one plate without grabbing any other plates. Additionally, in an embodiment, a manufacturer could include their own logo on the tab, or the tab could be personalized to include a logo of a sports team or a personalized message such as a birthday party.

The tab 30 may be formed integrally with the rest of the plate 10, or may be added later as a separate piece. In the embodiment where the tab is added after the plate is formed, the tab 30 may be formed of the same material, or may be a separate material, and may be coupled with the plate by glue, a mechanical coupling, or any other attachment method known in the art.

In one embodiment, paper plates 10 are made by taking an extruded pulp solution and blown through piping that injects into a mold. The mold may be a standard paper plate mold and includes a tab 30 extending outwardly away from the plate's center on an outer edge 20 of the plate 10. The pulp is then pressed and dried into the shape and the paper is dyed with the desired color and stamped with various designs, such as an edge design 24. In another embodiment, the paper plate 10 with a tab 30 extending outwardly away from the plate's center on an outer edge of the plate is cut from a sheet. The plates are then conveyed to a sorting machine, where the plates will be properly loaded into their packaging such that the tabs 30 of adjacent plates 10 are staggered about the edge 20 of the plates 10 as shown in FIG. 2.

In an embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the plates 10 may be circular in shape without any design features or compartments within the perimeter of the plate 10. The plates may then be stacked in a place to be stored in a manner that does not allow the tab 30 of a first plate to overlap with the tab 30 of an adjacent plate 10. The plates 10 may be stacked upwardly or downwardly in a rotating manner, so the tabs are staggered around the perimeter such that tabs of adjacent plates are not stacked one upon another and may form a second perimeter 32 when the stack is viewed in a plan view or from above. As shown in FIG. 2, the tabs are separated by about the width of a single tab, although the tabs may be closer or farther apart. Further, in an embodiment adjacent tabs may be staggered such that adjacent plates have adjacent tabs. In other embodiments, the tabs may be separated by larger degrees such that adjacent plates do not have adjacent tabs when viewed from above like in FIG. 2.

Staggered in this case is defined as the tabs of adjacent plates not overlapping when viewed from above as shown in FIG. 2, such that a user can only grab a single plate when grasping the top tab. The tabs may be formed such that they are located all the way around the perimeter of the plates, or they may be confined to a certain number in order to reduce the amount of different plates necessary to create enough separation between tabs in the same position to allow the user to grab a single tab. For instance, if plates are 1/16″ thick, there may be 8 different tab positions offered, which would allow for ½″ separation between plates with tabs in the same position. As a person of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate, other plate thicknesses and separations are also included within the scope of the disclosure.

In another embodiment, tabs 30 may be added to plates that are not concentric in design like those shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C. For instance, the plate may be oval-shaped (FIG. 3C), square (FIG. 3B), it may include internal design features 26 such as compartments (FIG. 3A), or may any other shape or design that does not allow for easily turning the plate 10 to locate the tabs 30 in a convenient location to stagger the tabs that are adjacent to one another. In these non-concentric cases, the complete secondary perimeter 32 may be molded into each plate 10. A secondary operation may be performed in the manufacturing process to cut away all of the secondary perimeter 32 except the tab 30 for that particular plate 10. This operation may be a hand operation, or may be a secondary automatic operation to remove the secondary perimeter 32 not needed for that plate 10. In still another embodiment, the plates may be molded from at least ten or more different molds with the tabs in different locations, and then nested or stacked such that the tabs 30 are staggered from one another.

After the plates 10 are molded, a sorting machine or a sorting person may take the plates 10 with the tabs 30 in the different locations and stagger them within their stack such that adjacent plates do not include tabs in the same location, preferably staggered about the perimeter of the plates similar to the above embodiment such that the stack of plates as viewed in plan view appears to have the full secondary perimeter. A typical stack 12 of plates 10 is shown in FIG. 4, with the edges 20 nested one atop another. FIG. 5A is an expanded view of the edges of this configuration. FIG. 5B shows the stack with the tab 30 extending from the top plate 10 giving the user an easy extension to grab onto to pull a single plate 10 from the stack 12.

Tabs 30 may also be added in a similar manner as disclosed above to other tableware such as bowls, cups, or cutlery. When a tab 30 is applied to a piece of cutlery, it is done in a slightly different manner, to ensure that an individual piece is able to be picked up separately. Cutlery/Utensils have the functional side attached to a handle. The tabs are attached to the top edge of the handle of the utensil. The tabs are connected in a manner such that the tabs extend in a diagonal and outward manner.

In another embodiment, tabs can be added to existing paper and plastic tableware. The tabs will have a food-safe adhesive on one end and the other end will be made of sturdy plastic that will allow a user to attach the tab and pick up a single plastic or paper piece of tableware. A host may attach the tabs with the adhesive side connecting to the paper or plastic piece of tableware or each guest can take a single adhesive tab and attach the adhesive side to the first plate in a stack of plates to ensure that only one plate is taken.

In another embodiment, each guest will have their own plastic tab that is able to connect to a single piece of tableware.

Tabs can be added in a similar manner to tableware made of metal, plastic, glass, ceramic, porcelain, stoneware, wood and stone. The tabs allow for easily accessible tableware. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A disposable plate, comprising: a base portion having a perimeter; a tab extending from the perimeter; wherein the plate is configured to nest with a second disposable plate having a second tab, the second disposable plate disposed underneath the disposable plate; wherein the tab is configured to be staggered from the second tab such that a user grabbing the tab does not grab the second tab.
 2. The disposable plate of claim 1, wherein the tab is configured to be adjacent the second tab when viewed from above.
 3. The disposable plate of claim 1, wherein the first disposable plate and the second disposable plate are a part of a stack of at least eight disposable plates.
 4. The disposable plate of claim 3, wherein each of the stack of at least eight disposable plates comprises a base and a perimeter that substantially align when viewed from above.
 5. The disposable plate of claim 4, wherein each of the stack of at least eight disposable plates comprises a tab extending from the perimeter.
 6. The disposable plate of claim 5, wherein the tabs of each of the stack of at least eight disposable plates extends from the perimeter of each of the stack of at least eight disposable plates such that none of the tabs overlap.
 7. The disposable plate of claim 1, wherein the base further comprises non-concentric compartments.
 8. The disposable plate of claim 1, wherein the perimeter of the disposable plate is a non-concentric shape.
 9. A disposable piece of tableware, comprising: a base; a perimeter; a tab extending from the perimeter; wherein the disposable piece of tableware is configured to nest with a second disposable piece of tableware having a second tab, the second disposable piece of tableware disposed adjacent the disposable piece of tableware; wherein the tab of the disposable piece of tableware is configured to be staggered from the second tab such that a user grabbing the tab does not grab the second tab.
 10. The disposable piece of tableware of claim 9, wherein the tab is configured to be adjacent the second tab when viewed from above.
 11. The disposable piece of tableware of claim 9, wherein the first disposable piece of tableware and the second disposable piece of tableware are a part of a stack of at least eight disposable piece of tableware.
 12. The disposable piece of tableware of claim 11, wherein each of the stack of at least eight disposable piece of tableware comprises a base and a perimeter that substantially align when viewed from above.
 13. The disposable piece of tableware of claim 12, wherein each of the stack of at least eight disposable piece of tableware comprises a tab extending from the perimeter.
 14. The disposable piece of tableware of claim 13, wherein the tabs of each of the stack of at least eight disposable piece of tableware extends from the perimeter of each of the stack of at least eight disposable piece of tableware such that none of the tabs overlap.
 15. The disposable piece of tableware of claim 13, wherein the piece of tableware is a plate.
 16. The disposable piece of tableware of claim 13, wherein the piece of tableware is a bowl.
 17. The disposable piece of tableware of claim 9, wherein the tab is integrally formed with the disposable piece of tableware. 